This invention relates to stoves and heaters, and more particularly to natural fuel-fired portable stoves and heaters that can be assembled and disassembled without the need for special tools.
The prior art is replete with various types of portable stoves and heaters that can be partially disassembled, folded, or otherwise reduced in size to enhance their portability. The use of these devices, however, is commonly fraught with problems and/or disadvantages. For example, some of the stoves or heaters of this general type are undesirably bulky and/or heavy, some require the use of tools, and occasionally specially designed tools, to assemble and disassemble their component parts, and some fall short in the strength and rigidity necessary for their intended use.
Additional disadvantages with prior art stoves or heaters of the portable variety are those encountered when these devices are used in the outdoors. The modern emphasis on protection and conservation of our natural resources and environment has produced many necessary regulations, some very stringent, that severely limit the times and locations where portable stoves or heaters can be legally and safely used, and in an ever-growing number of areas the supply of natural fuel is either seriously limited or non-existent, thereby necessitating the use of butane and other liquid or synthetic fuels that must be transported to the use site, and their empty containers returned for refilling or proper disposal.